Changing food dates as you get older

I don't think I have stopped liking anything - yet - but I like things now that I didn't like when I was younger, such as olives and chickpeas.

I never had much of a sweet tooth, but I have found that my taste for sweet food has declined dramatically since the menopause.. I recently needed to grab something for a quick lunch at a petrol station and came out with a pack of falafels rather than sweets or biscuits

In restaurants, I have starters but, rarely a dessert

Apart from that, my tastes haven't changed much.

I have gone off a lot of food I have never seen the point in eating bland food. I don’t eat a lot anyway but I am struggling with meat I used to enjoy a nice ham not anymore. I am eating more sustainable fish now and enjoying it.
I would sooner have a choice of various things to eat rather than be faced with a big plate of food.
As a treat I used to love cheese and onion crisps now I can’t stand snacks like crisps. I went off cucumber years ago I am eating it again with a salad and lots of fruit.
I do love to cook everything from scratch I always have. If I make a special dinner for us the portion size has greatly reduced.
My mum used to say appetite changes as you get older it’s true my dh is the same we both eat at lot less than we did years ago.

I wondered what changing dates were!

I’ve gone off fish in the last few years. Prawns are ok and smoked salmon but the rest, nope, unless heavily disguised with parsley sauce or similar.

I agree, Redhead56 about portion size. I drastically reduced portion size to cope with menopausal weight gain.

For environmental reasons I have reduced the amount of meat we eat, not by eating more plant based meals, but as we mainly eat meat in casseroles and stews, I have increased the quantity of vegetables in every casserole and stew. I will casserole a pound of meat, we will eat a quarter of it between us and save three. Each person's portion contains only 2oz of meat instead of the 4oz usually seen as a portion size. We eat 'Pasture of Life meat, which is really tasty, but it does not work out expensive because we eat it in such small portions.

My appetite is much reduced. Being presented with a large plate of food puts me off eating. I love spicy foods but have to be careful as too much upsets my stomach.

I certainly eat far less than I used to but that's probably because I used to over indulge. If believe my range of tastes has widened dramatically and I love trying new and interesting things.

I have become addicted to fruitella chewy sweets (other similar available at Lidl and Aldi). I crave fruity juicy things more than chocolate now. Always drawn to citrus fruits inc. limes and grapefruits. Love olives and feta (with lemon)
Prefer simple none cheffy meals like poached eggs and home made fried potatoes or….
beef or lamb rissoles from a recipe at the back of my old and scruffy Delia cookery course book -chapter: leftovers these really are gorgeous served with a scoop of creamy mash a drizzle of Sundays’ leftover gravy and a sweet chutney.
Also now like nougat, marzipan and marshmallows but never used to. What is wrong with me! ?

We definitely eat less meat and I'll usually have fish if we are out and normally twice a week at home. I also eat less starchy things like potatoes, pasta etc but fill up with veg or salad. I've still put a little weight on though as my metabolism seems to be slower than it used to be.

Granmarderby10 your post brought back a memory! I was born with something wrong with my left foot. When I was a little girl I had to attend hospital regularly and on the way home my mother used to take me into a little shop near the hospital that sold Fruitellas loose. The lovely shopkeeper used to pick me out a bagful of strawberry ones for being a brave girl . I don’t remember much about the hospital but I remember the shop very well.

me, like similar thread about ageing since the pandemic,, I have just gone off food... and I have always had a healthy appetite. always told dh that if I lose my appetite, I am really ill.. so I pick at this and don`t enjoy food,,, so not losing weight, unfortunately.

Yes I've found that my appetite decreased, food i use to love no longer enjoy. I use to live to eat now I eat to live! Still at least I've lost weight so that's a bonus lol

I don't like being faced with a plate of food, much prefer the tapas or meze approach to food when I can have little bits of different things, luckily our lovely local pub is quite happy for DH and I to share three or four starters, rather than have a main course each, it is a lovely way to eat. Not that easy to sort out just for two at home though! I have gone right off desserts, chiefly because they are nearly always disappointing, the reality is never as good as the description, but I do enjoy a good chunk or two of Aldi fruit and nut chocolate when I crave something sweet.

I'm definitely eating smaller portions. Just because l can't eat big meals anymore. If l eat out can't do 3 courses, and sometimes l just have a main. I think savoury food is what l like to eat now, rather than sweet. Can't even eat my beloved chocolate so much anymore

Interesting! I ate many foods for years out of habit, I think, as my mother chose the family meals, the rest of the family loved her choices so I went along with that! As I grew older I realised that many of these staples were/are not to my taste. Take chips. My family loved them and we ate a great deal of them, although they were proper home made ones. Pork pies, pancakes, battered cod, broad beans, butter beans, pizza, eggs (apart from scrambled!), sausages, the list goes on. I dutifully ate them then but later realised I didn’t really want to eat them anymore so I don’t. (My worst nightmare is raspberries and NO ONE ever could force me to eat them!) My parents, both gone now, thought my tastes odd as does my sister. She and her family have more refined tastes now and are in fact real ‘foodies’ whilst I plough along on a more limited but reasonably enjoyable diet. I have come to the conclusion that I am a ‘eat to live type’ rather than a ‘live to eat’ person!

No, my tastes haven't changed but things like cucumber and wholemeal bread give me hurtburn, and other things like onions upset my stomach unless they are very well fried or parboiled before frying.

So there are things I used to love that I no longer eat, or don't eat very often.

I've found that I'm reverting to the sort of foods I liked as a child.

I’m like you grandtante. I find I can’t eat any dairy, fruit, cucumber, very little bread, pulses or sugar. I’m aware that I come across as a very picky eater and I’d love to eat many of the things that disagree with me but it’s not worth the pain and inconvenience that comes later.

I have found over the last 2 years, I've lost all sense of taste and smell. All food is tasteless so I need to have some texture. I used to love cooking and baking but not now. It has become a chore. It's nothing to do with Covid. It's more the effect of age and prolonged inhalers used to control Asthma. It has seemed worse since my type 2 diabetes was cured and I can eat things I didn't eat for years. I don't enjoy food at all now.

Strange isn’t it. I can no longer eat big meals, and don’t really enjoy meat anymore could quite happily live on veg, fruit and salad plus carbs of course. My mum always says to me don’t worry about your weight when you get older you’ll be slim like me.I have lost a stone over the past year without trying, although I’ve still two to go yet.

In the last couple of years there have been quite a few things I used to like that I no longer like. I was never a big fan of smoked things but liked smoked salmon or haddock but no longer. I have gone off ham, pork and duck. I like beef but find it very heavy. I cannot tolerate spices - they make my mouth burn. I have never eaten a lot of processed food but really dislike it now. My appetite has also decreased.

I like simpler fare these days, things which don't require too much preparation. Our family used to eat Christmas cake/pudding, mince pies, roasts and the like. I can't remember the last time I made pastry. I loved cooking when I was younger but since DH passed away after being unable to eat normally during his illness I've totally gone off it.

I make simple things and eat just two meals each day but sadly haven't lost very much menopausal weight.

Tastes absolutely can change with aging. The senses of taste and smell decrease with age. Medications, living alone, and changes to metabolism can also affect eating patterns.

I can't stand tea now. I had my last cup the night before my hysterectomy 12 years ago and was offered one after my op. I found I couldn't bear the smell. Funny what hormones do!